The park was eerily quiet off the old library, the hum of traffic and chatter of people filtered through the thick canopy of trees. Emma sat on a worn wooden bench, her eyes darting at her phone every other second as she waited for Lucy to arrive. She had never seen her best friend so anxious, not even when she first got laid off from Arcadia. But a sense of unease gnawed in Emma's gut; something was wrong. And Lucy wasn't one for asking her to meet places like this unless something serious needed saying.
This was unlike Lucy: messages with underlying meanings. Still, the urgency in her voice earlier had been unmistakable. Emma had known her for years; they'd been through too much together. This wasn't the same Lucy who had spent countless late nights at their favorite diner, gossiping and laughing until the sun came up. No, this was different Lucy, somebody scared, somebody who knew things Emma did not know. And that thought was terrifying.
A rustling in the bushes made Emma's heart skip a beat. She turned, and there Lucy stood, her shoulders hunched as if weighed down by something far heavier than the simple act of walking. Her eyes were wide, bloodshot, and she looked nothing like the energetic woman who had once been her constant source of support.
"Lucy," Emma whispered, standing up immediately. "What's going on?"
Lucy hesitated for a moment, looking around cautiously before sitting next to Emma on the bench. Her hands fidgeted with her purse, that same purse she'd carried for years, now looking a little worn. She didn't speak right away, her silence more deafening than any words.
"Lucy?" Emma prompted, her voice steady but laced with concern.
Lucy exhaled, and the sound was almost like a sigh of relief escaped her. "I don't know how to tell you this, Em. But I need you to understand-what I'm about to say is dangerous."
Emma's heart did an extra beat. Dangerous? What had she gotten herself into?
"Look, I've been trying to work out how to make any sense of it all, starting from why I got fired to why so many people are also being let go," Lucy continued, the sound shaking a little. "It's not what we think; it's not lay-offs. Em, it is way worse. I really do believe Arcadia is getting itself sabotaged from within."
The words hit Emma like a ton of bricks. Though her mind reeled, her face showed nothing of the storm that brewed inside of her. "Sabotaged? By who?"
Lucy's eyes flickered with fear. "That's just it, Em. I don't know. But I know they're getting rid of people. And not for the reasons they say. I was one of the first, and then it kept happening. I don't think it's a coincidence."
Emma narrowed her eyes. "But you've always said the company was solid. What happened? Why are they letting so many people go?"
Lucy looked over her shoulder again before answering. "It's not about performance. It's about control. About keeping secrets buried. There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes at Arcadia that no one is talking about. A lot of things I'm not sure anyone should know."
A chill crawled up Emma's spine as the words hung in the air like a warning. But Lucy wasn't done yet, and Emma was hanging on every word.
"The people they've fired? Some of them were involved in sensitive projects, the kind of projects that could cause a lot of problems if the wrong people found out. And I'm not talking about stuff like new tech launches or marketing campaigns. No, it's much darker than that. There's something going on inside Arcadia that they're trying to hide, and they're using people like me—like all of us—to cover it up."
Emma's breath caught. "What do you mean by 'darker'? What are you talking about, Lucy?"
Lucy was silent for a moment, as if debating whether to continue. The silence between them was thick, and the storm of uncertainty churned in Emma's stomach.
"There's something about the Cross family," Lucy whispered, as if she feared being overheard. "I've worked with Sofia Cross before, Adrian's sister. She's always been a little… off, you know? But lately, I've noticed things. The way she talks about her father, the way Adrian has been acting. I think it has something to do with their father's death. People at Arcadia are scared of what might come out about the company's past."
Emma's heart started beating faster. "You don't believe Adrian's father's death was an accident either?"
Luce bit her lip and looked around the park, taking in the surroundings with her silent, sweeping gaze. "I don't know. I don't have all the answers. But something's happening. People are being silenced. People are being erased."
Emma shook her head, attempting to process what Lucy had just said. She couldn't deny that things at Arcadia felt off, like a slow-burning fire just waiting to break out of control. But the idea of corporate sabotage? It seemed a leap.
"I don't want to be the one to make it worse, but you need to know," Lucy said, the pleading in her voice rising. "If you keep digging around, Em, you're going to get yourself in trouble. You think you're just helping Adrian, but you don't know what's really going on. He's got his own demons, his own battles. And I'm telling you, the more you get involved, the more you're going to be in danger. They're watching, Em. They're always watching."
Emma's mind was racing. She knew she had come this far, finding those cryptic notes, unraveling the threads of corporate deceit. But to hear it from Lucy-to see the fear in her eyes-made her realize just how deep this went. How far she might have already gone.
"Who's 'they,' Lucy?" Emma asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Who's pulling the strings?"
Lucy leaned forward, her face pale, lips tight, as if she was about to tell the secret that would break everything. "I don't know. But I think it's someone high up-someone with power, someone who has more control over Arcadia than anyone knows."
Pieces were falling into place in Emma's mind, though it was still shrouded in shadows. She had always known there was more to Arcadia than met the eye, but she hadn't realized just how deep the rot went, or how far-reaching the conspiracy might be.
"I don't know what to do with this, Lucy," Emma admitted, the weight of the situation sinking in. "I can't just walk away. Not after everything I've found out."
Lucy gave her a long, searching look, her eyes filled with a mix of concern and resignation. "I know you can't. But please, be careful. I don't want to see you get caught up in something that could destroy you."
Emma nodded, her resolve hardening like steel. She wasn't about to back down-not now, not when the stakes were so high. The company she'd worked for, the people she'd trusted, had been hiding something from her all along.
"I'll be careful," she said, but the words didn't sound convincing even to her. "But I'm not stopping. Not until I find out the truth."
Lucy looked at her with a mixture of pity and caution. "Just promise me you'll think it through. Because once you're in this, there's no going back."
As Lucy stood and started to walk away, Emma remained on the bench, her gaze fixed on some point far away. The sun had started to set, casting long shadows across the park. Everything was different now. Her simple life at Arcadia was in pieces, and the road ahead was lined with danger.
But Emma Hayes wasn't one to back down. Not when the truth was within her grasp.
The next few days in Arcadia felt like a well-choreographed dance of deception. Emma couldn't help but feel that everyone around her was wearing a mask, some more convincingly than others. Adrian Cross, the CEO, seemed to carry the weight of his family's empire on his shoulders, but Emma could feel the cracks beneath his polished veneer.
Was he a conspirator, or was he, too, a victim of the hidden forces working against them all?
With Lucy's warning echoing in her mind, Emma resolved to dig deeper. She wasn't going to let fear stop her now. She was determined to find out who or what was threatening Arcadia-and more importantly, to bring the truth to light. Whatever the cost.